NBC, TNT and TBS add full TV episode access via iPad apps

Television networks NBC, TNT and TBS recently began offering streaming full-length TV episodes on their respective apps for Apple's iPad, though shows from TNT and TBS are only available to eligible cable or satellite subscribers.

NBC

NBC announced last Friday that it has updated its NBC.com app for iPad to include access to full episodes, thus mirroring the online experience.

The application, originally launched in June, lets users browse through thousands of video clips and highlights, exclusive photo galleries, recaps, games and news, making it all customizable from myNBC dashboard.

NBC also updated a second iOS application, NBC Live. The app now includes features such as access to video clips, games or photos within the application. The network plans to use these new features to make broadcasts of certain TV shows, including The Office, The Sing-Off, The Biggest Loser, and Chuck, unique and interactive for the user.

Both NBC.com and NBC Live are available as free downloads in the App Store.

TNT and TBS

Turner Broadcasting System also launched its own iPad applications last week: TNT for iPad and TBS for iPad, with support for full-length episodes.

Both applications are available free of charge from the App Store, but each requires authentication with a cable or satellite provider in order for the user to gain access to network-specific streaming content.
Similar in appearance, each app includes access to movies and TV shows aired on TNT and TBS, respectively, as well as series episodes guides, clips, behind-the-scenes features, schedules and reminders, and social networking integration via GetGlue, Facebook and Twitter.

TNT for iPad offers access to various TV shows, including The Closer, Falling Skies, and Rizzoli & Isles, while TBS for iPad provides access to full episodes of Conan, Tyler Perrys House of Payne, The Office and others.

However, some users report having issues gaining access to full episode content. Both the TNT and TBS iPad apps currently have an abundance of 1-star ratings, with customers stating in a number of reviews that they were unable to get the feature working.

Some of the TV shows that can be streamed to the iPad via any of the three new iOS apps are also already available for purchase in the iTunes Store. Users can buy single episodes or full series of their favorite TV shows in either standard or high-definition. The TNT and TBS apps for iPhone have also been updated to include support for full episodes.

Some of the TV shows that can be streamed to the iPad via any of the three new iOS apps are also already available for purchase in the iTunes Store. Users can buy single episodes or full series of their favorite TV shows in either standard or high-definition. The TNT and TBS apps for iPhone have also been updated to include support for full episodes.

Wow. Apple hates it when App Store companies just give a discount on competing merchandise. How are they going to deal with content owners giving away iTunes merchandise for free?

Over a year ago I was regularly watching TV shows from most networks on the internet. CBS was the one network that didn't post shows I wanted to see. So..... I just stopped watching CBS. I suppose tens of thousands of people also don't see any advertising from them because of this.

The USA Network did have shows available for a while but their webmasters were so clueless that often the shows wouldn't play. Now their site is hopeless. They've given up streaming the shows I want to see. They just say find them online at your favorite video provider.

TNT has just changed to force people to pay for their shows via signing in with an identifier from your local cable company. Without it you can't watch.

SCREW THEM ALL! I now find the shows I want to watch using search engines. There are many sites out there that record broadcasts and replay them at no cost. I've built up a little library of sites that do this and most of the time the recordings are without any advertising. All of the sites work better than anything that ever came from the USA Network. Their site was always slow. The networks are loosing money by being greedy.

Videos without the Flash player must be unsettling to Adobe right now.

I haven't been watching TV for about 2 years now. Sophomore year of college I no longer had free TV so I never signed up. I watch colbert report on occasion on the internet, and sometimes myth busters, but other than that don't miss the TV at all.

I also don't watch sports. I think that is the main thing holding people back from cutting the cable these days.

I also don't watch sports. I think that is the main thing holding people back from cutting the cable these days.

I can't stand sports and I still have cable. I think that one other reason why people might keep cable is because of premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime etc..........There are some excellent series being made by these channels, much better than anything on network tv.

I can't stand sports and I still have cable. I think that one other reason why people might keep cable is because of premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime etc..........There are some excellent series being made by these channels, much better than anything on network tv.

Yea but you gotta be a total high roller to get those in addition to another $50 you pay for channels you never watch. Maybe a few years into my career I will have money to spend every month. For now I would rather have faster internet.

I dropped satellite 6 months ago after dropping cable two years before that. I get all our TV from the net. iTunes & Netflix mostly. I buy 5-6 series a year plus a load of single episodes and rent movies. My bill is about 1/4 what it was, I watch less and the best part is my kids and I see the shows we want without all the commercials. I hate watching broadcast shows now because I've grown use to no commercials. I would much rather pay a little for a show and not have to watch the fracking commercials. Hulu+ socks rocks!!! You have to pay for it AND you get commercials!!!!! What BS.

Yea but you gotta be a total high roller to get those in addition to another $50 you pay for channels you never watch. Maybe a few years into my career I will have money to spend every month. For now I would rather have faster internet.

Is Quebec the only place in North America where cable co. let you choose only the channels you want? I have notice that Bell Canada Fibe TV (which offers cable in all Canada) only offers this in Quebec and the rest of the provinces are stuck with channel packages. I pay 20$ for a mandatory "starter" kit then 15$ for 15 channels of my choice.

And once again, the inbred morons at Time Warner won't allow access to these apps, just like with the HBO and Cinemax apps.

I pay good money every month for these channels, it would be nice to have access to them on my iPad and not just through a cable box.

That would just piss off the cable company. I don't know why Time Warner doesn't just let people pay it directly for the content they want rather than forcing people to go through a cable provider. Put the ads on the Ipad. At least with the Ipad you would have better tracking and information for Advertisers to use.

though shows from TNT and TBS are only available to eligible cable or satellite subscribers.

This is so stupid. Media companies just don't get it. Especially if I'm willing to sit through commercials (a la Hulu), why should I also have to be a cable subscriber? How can they not get the point that the very reason growing numbers of people are abandoning cable is because of the cost; that the media companies have a golden opportunity to break free of cable distributors by appealing directly to consumers.

It'd be as if music companies a decade ago had said "You can play our music on your iPod - but only if you already subscribe to the RCA CD-of-the-Month club". Music companies have made a lot of stupid decisions too, but it's always been about selling directly to the consumer so at least they understand that dynamic.

Over a year ago I was regularly watching TV shows from most networks on the internet. CBS was the one network that didn't post shows I wanted to see. So..... I just stopped watching CBS. [...]

The USA Network did have shows available for a while but their webmasters were so clueless that often the shows wouldn't play. Now their site is hopeless. [...]

TNT has just changed to force people to pay for their shows via signing in with an identifier from your local cable company. Without it you can't watch.

SCREW THEM ALL!

+1. SyFy is doing the same thing - won't post new episodes on Hulu until the entire season is over. So while I might like to watch, say, Warehouse 13 -- I'm not. I'm not going to subscribe to cable & pay over $100 a month just to watch Warehouse 13 or to be able to watch CNN streaming on my iPad.

Ultimately, viewers can't miss what they can't watch, so this behavior by networks will backfire on them in the end. To continue my example - maybe by the time the latest SyFy season ends, I've lost my interest in Warehouse 13 and have become immersed in The Tudors on streaming Netflix, or bought season 2 of Archer (yes!) on iTunes.

The fact is that there's enough entertainment content out there, and enough news sites out there, to be able to tell these neaderthals to go stuff it. Even via iTunes and streaming Netflix alone (whose library is growing by the day, by the way), there's enough content out there that after 4 months without cable (and with an AppleTV2) we feel like we've barely scratched the surface.

I haven't been watching TV for about 2 years now. Sophomore year of college I no longer had free TV so I never signed up. I watch colbert report on occasion on the internet, and sometimes myth busters, but other than that don't miss the TV at all.

I also don't watch sports. I think that is the main thing holding people back from cutting the cable these days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apple ][

I can't stand sports and I still have cable. I think that one other reason why people might keep cable is because of premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime etc..........There are some excellent series being made by these channels, much better than anything on network tv.

Even that's going away - I could (if I wanted) sign up for the baseball network via my AppleTV2, and I think maybe NBA too (I could care less, so I don't know for sure).

And the same with premium channels' material - The Tudors and Mad Med are on streaming Netflix now, for example. So while I'm not able to watch them at the same time as their broadcast (guess I miss out on the water cooler conversation - yawn!), I still get to see them (and on my terms and schedule, and without commercials).

TV network executives kill shows by having the regular weekly schedule interrupted. They skip weeks at a time. Then when the shows loose viewers then can justify putting something else in those time slots. When this gets done to shows I like I eventually stop watching them. It gets annoying tuning in to see them and the networks put something else in that spot for a week or two.

Networks are starting to do the same thing to people by preventing them from seeing shows quickly via the internet. They're just driving away viewers.

I didn't mind watching some advertising on TNT or NBC shows at their sites. I switched to Fancast (which used Hulu) because their servers were faster. Fancast then required one to have a login from a cable TV company to view shows. I just quit using Fancast.

Just type the name of the show into a search engine like this; "Burn Notice Season 5 Episode 9" and you'll find places that have streaming video of each episode. Most of the streaming sources from around the world don't include the advertising. That makes it even better.

And once again, the inbred morons at Time Warner won't allow access to these apps, just like with the HBO and Cinemax apps.

I pay good money every month for these channels, it would be nice to have access to them on my iPad and not just through a cable box.

It's February 2013 and this is still true of the TNT app. What even funnier is that Time Warner owns TNT.

Edit: Ah well that is partially right - Time Warner and Time Warner Cable are now wholly separate entities. To the former parent company owns TNT. the Spun off cable company is either denying access or still has some legal restriction preventing them from working with TNT.